"Ow!"

"Hold still."

"OW!"

I let out a squeal, pulling my arm away from Markus who was trying to stitch up my wound.

He let out an exasperated sigh, holding the small needle in his hand, "If you'd sit still this would go a lot quicker."

"You may not feel pain but I do!" I closed my eyes tight, trying to ignore the pain of him sewing up my bullet wound.

"That's what the pain meds are for." He retorted, wrapping a gauze around my arm and shoulder. "There. See? You're good as new."

I wrinkled my nose. "Give or take a few pints of blood." I smiled at him, unable to help it once I looked up into his blue and green eyes. "Thank you, Markus."

"Me?" He was smiling. Even though he had lost so many of his people, he was still remaining a strong leader. It was admirable. "I should be the one thanking you. You helped my people — you were willing to die for us."

"When I look at you, I see people. People who are alive and deserve to be free and live happy lives. I will always fight for that."

"You saved my life." Markus glanced over at Connor, a curious look on his face. Connor was staring at the ground, his LED had been a continuous yellow since we had gone into the water hours ago. "What's the story with you two anyways? How does a human detective fall in love with CyberLife's new prototype android?"

I let out a quiet giggle. Even though it wasn't the time for happy memories, I knew it was Markus' way of getting to know me, and honestly it was nice to have a moment to forget about everything else going on... even for just a moment. "When CyberLife assigned him to all the android cases we had, I wasn't sure what to make of him. He was quiet and observant — but over time he became very... charismatic and caring. I've never met anyone so... enchanting." I admitted, blushing after realizing I was rambling. "Sorry, I guess I haven't really talked to anyone about him like this."

"It's fine." Markus smiled, "He seems to really love you."

"Oh, really?!" I teased, smirking at him, "How can you tell?"

"Well for starters he can't stop glancing at you. Personally, I think he's jealous." Markus nodded in Connor's direction.

I glanced up, noticing Connor avert his gaze to the ground once I caught his glance. "That's adorable."

"He became deviant for you. I've never seen someone do that before. You must be a pretty special girl." He held his hand out to me as he stood, motioning to help me stand up.

I blushed slightly, "Are you flirting with me, Markus?" I teased, grabbing onto his hand as he pulled me to a standing position.

"Of course not." Markus scoffed affectionately, letting go of my hand once he knew I was stable. "You good to walk?"

"Oh yeah, I mean all I got is a bullet hole in my shoulder. I'm grand." I stuck my tongue out at him as I walked past him over towards Connor.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, immediately walking up to me once he noticed me standing.

I smiled slightly as I noticed him analyzing me. "I'm okay, Connor. Markus patched me up, and the pain medication is helping a lot."

"That's good." Connor sounded sad, which made me frown.

"What is it?" I grabbed onto his hand, looking up at him.

"Connor, no—" I tried to cut in but he didn't let me.

"I was stupid..."

I frowned, unable to think of anything that would help the situation.

Markus was silent for a moment, he looked from Connor to me, and then back to Connor.

"You are one of us now."

"Am I one of your people?" I couldn't help but smile at Markus.

He chuckled, "Of course. We need our honorary human advisor, don't we?"

"Bleh, that title makes me sound like an old person." I wrinkled my nose. "If it helps, I'm definitely pro android. Screw the humans, am I right?!"

Markus shook his head, ruffling my hair. "You're one strange human."

"Hey! I prefer unique!"

Markus began to turn away from us.

"Connor, what—"

"Connor! Are you fucking kidding me?!" I cried, staring at him with wide eyes. Any happy feeling I had left my body.

"They trust me. They'll let me in." Connor said, looking at Markus.

No.

I will not let this happen.

No!

"No..." I couldn't look at either of them, tears brimming my eyes.

Why won't he listen to me?!

"No. No fucking way."

"Tasha—"

"No! You're not going to die! Not now!"

Markus looked at me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Take time." He said, then doing the same to Connor before he left us alone.

I walked away from Connor, wiping the tears from my eyes.

So now he wants to get himself killed?!

"Tasha, please." Connor begged, grabbing onto my elbow to stop me from moving any further from him.

"So what, you're gonna sacrifice yourself now?! After everything we've been through?!"

"There's a chance—"

"No! Don't lie to me! It's a low fucking chance. CyberLife will kill you, Connor. They won't bring you back. And if they do, it won't be you. You're a deviant now."

"I know! I— I have to try, Tasha. This is the only way we can ever have a hope of being together without fear."

"We... we can run away, Connor." Though I said the words, I knew neither of us could run away. We had to finish this to the end, no matter how it played out.

Connor pulled me into a hug, kissing my head. "I love you. You know that right?"

I closed my eyes against his chest, trying to stop the tears forming in my eyes. There was no point in arguing — Connor made his decision and I had to accept that.

"I love you too, Connor."

•••

A/N: Ahhh I hope you enjoyed. Smut coming in the chapter after the next chapter sooo be prepared :3 please leave any suggestions as writers block has been killing me buuuut I've been having fun writing when I'm inspired